Here I blog about writing, editing, reading, books, submissions, freelancing, getting published (and rejected), journalism, revisions, life after the MFA, teaching writing, and living the writer's life. Welcome. BUT -- if you are a writer: Write first, read blogs second.

Wednesday, May 28, 2014

In
Summer of 2012, many readers (and a huge swath of writers who value paying markets!) were upset to learn that Brain, Child: The Magazine for Thinking
Mothers,was closing after 13 years publishing intelligent essays and
fiction about modern parenting. (The ad-free magazine was often called "The
New Yorker for mothers.") Its two
founding publishers/editors were moving on to new stages of life and work (Jennifer Niesslein
now edits an essay site, Full Grown People,
and Stephanie Wilkinson established a farm-to-table restaurant in Lexington,
VA.).

Just
when most were resigned that yet one more print magazine was gone forever,
Connecticut resident Marcelle Soviero, owner of Erielle Media LLC, purchased and
revived the magazine, which is now published quarterly, plus one special teen
issue per year. Soviero, a memoir author, essayist, former executive at
several tech start-ups, and writing teacher, has also redesigned the magazine, expanded
BC's online presence, added a Brain,
Mother blog, and just recently published a book of essays written by many of Brain, Child ‘s bloggers. Last week, I asked Marcelle a few nosy questions.
(Disclosure: I am an occasional freelance editor for the magazine, helping
writers to revise essays and short stories.)

Lisa
Romeo: Many people (myself included)
were thrilled when you re-launched Brain,
Child magazine. I believe many longtime subscribers stuck with it. Were you
worried about the first issue you published being accepted?

Marcelle
Soviero: Our subscriber base has grown significantly in the last two years, so
that is a good thing. I worried about the first issue, but I worry about every
issue – that it is the best it can be and stands up to our mission of
publishing the highest quality literary magazine available.

LR: Had you always wanted to run a magazine, or was buying Brain, Child more a matter of, "Someone ought to keep that magazine going," and then taking
the plunge?

MS: I always wanted to run (or be an editor-in-chief) of a magazine since my first
stint as an editor of Popular Science.

LR: In the early stages, what did you decide to keep the same, and what did you
decide to change?

MS: My big push was to update the design of the magazine, to add poetry, to produce
an expanded digital version, and to grow our online and social media presence. We
kept the Brain, Child departments the
same but created icons for each department in the print issue. And we’ve commissioned
many new artists. My goal was to capture the feeling of the essay with the art
as well as the words. In our digital issues we offer bonus content not
available in the print edition, and we plan more and more of that in the
future.

LR: I'm thinking there has likely been some inevitable backlash to some of that
evolution?

MS: We received the 2014 award for best overall design of a literary magazine from
Boston Bookbuilders, which was a nice validation of our effort and the efforts
of our amazing Art Directors Mike Lombardo and Nancy Anderson. We’ve received
so many letters from readers saying how much they love the updated, redesigned magazine
and our website and social media readership has grown exponentially and our
digital products are selling really well. I can’t complain.

LR: You have been working hard to develop the BC web presence and spread the BC
"brand" across social media platforms. Can you talk about some of these
ventures, and why and how that's helping to support a subscriber- and newsstand-supported print magazine in 2014?

MS: We’ve decided for the most part not to include ads in the magazine for now to
preserve the editorial quality and look of the magazine. We do however save
space each issue for a pro bono ad for a nonprofit cause we care about. We are
really fortunate in that our subscriptions support the magazine.

LR: One interesting partnership is the cross-posting of some BC content on the
Huffington Post. Obviously, this brings BC to the attention of thousands,
perhaps millions of readers who might otherwise not know of it. What are the
residual effects of that, and is it something that your writers have embraced?

MS: We work with Huffington Post, Mothering.com, and other select content
partners to expand our reach and showcase our writers. We’ve helped our writers
republish their work as well, in places like The Washington Post, UTNE, and
Babble. Writer Rebecca Lanning showcased her Brain, Child piece "The Nap Year" in The Washington Post; Catherine
Buni just republished an abridged version of her Brain, Child feature story “Conversation
Starters”
in The Atlantic. And I was fortunate
enough to see Claire DeBerg perform a shorter version of her Brain, Child essay “Finding Gloria” as part of Listen to Your Mother 2014 in Minneapolis.

LR: Many writers covet a byline in BC (because
of its reputation and cache, and also because it's a paying market!). Can you
give a peek inside the editorial process?

MS: We have an editorial team who read every
submission. We receive several hundred submissions a month. We publish 20 short
pieces on the blog, 8 - 10 pieces on the website monthly, and 6 - 9 pieces in
the print magazine quarterly. In addition we have special issues that offer
additional paid opportunities for writers. We receive submissions on an ongoing
basis. Our submission guidelines can be found here. I like essays that tell a
unique story or take a new angle on a common topic. I personally look for
strong dialogue that moves the story along while characterizing the speaker. And I am in love with metaphor.

LR: Can you tell me more about the Brain, Mother blog, another paying
market for writers?

MS: Brain, Mother has given us
the opportunity to publish more great work by incredible writers. Senior editor
Randi Olin, who joined me
two weeks after I bought the magazine, manages the blog and makes sure the posts
are thoughtful and tackle topics mothers care about. We look for a wide range
of voices and edit every piece. One of our
contributing bloggers, Lauren Apfel, just won a BlogHer award for her
outstanding op-ed pieces. We pay our
contributing bloggers, those who post for us regularly. (Blog guidelines are here. - LR).

LR: Though the tagline for BC, has always
been "The magazine for thinking mothers," do you run pieces by fathers and others in parenting
roles?

MS: Yes. We’ve had plenty of essays by fathers – the amazing Jon Sponaas is a
contributing blogger. Jack Cheng, Joe Freitas, and a dozen
others have written for us. We welcome male voices, and we are not shy about
showcasing voices from all types of families all over the globe.

LR: What's in the future for BC?

MS: We have more books and special issues
underway (we just published our first book -- This is Childhood: Book & Journal), audio and
video programming are in the works, and some terrific partnerships.

LR: Has publishing the magazine turned out to be
what you expected?

MS: It has been better than I ever expected. Outside of marrying my husband and
raising my five children, buying Brain,
Child is the best thing I ever did. I couldn’t be happier.

LR: You've published one memoir yourself, An Iridescent Life. Are you working
on another book length project, or has the business of running the magazine
left little time for your own writing?

MS: My writing centers me; I am always at work on new projects. I write every
morning from 4:00 – 6:00 am, it’s who I am.

LR: I think contributors like to hear that you are also "in the
trenches," so to speak, trying to find time in your busy day to work on
your personal writing project(s). Any advice in that area?

MS: For me it was important years ago to cut out TV time and also wake up really
early. I enter writing times into my calendar, and I never miss an appointment
with myself. Last, if I have an engagement (lunch with a friend for example)
and it gets cancelled, I steal away and write for that time instead. And I
always have my notebook. I’ve written many an essay while in waiting rooms, or
at sports practices!

Note
from Lisa: One blog reader will win a free one-year subscription to Brain, Child
magazine, as well as a full set of 2013 issues. To be eligible for the random
drawing, just leave a comment here on the blog by midnight, Tuesday, June 3. (Must have a U.S.
postal address.)

I published something with Brain, Child several years ago, but I didn't know they had someone new at the helm. Having trouble keeping up with all the magazines out there, but I'm interested to check them out again! Thanks, Lisa.

I am sorry I missed the contest, but I still wanted to leave you a comment that I loved this interview. It had the feel of getting inside information about the workings of a wonderful magazine. Great job (again) Lisa!

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My Writing Life

I am primarily a nonfiction writer -- literary and personal essays, journalism, memoir, humor, reviews, and more. My work appears in print and online media, literary journals, and essay collections. I write and publish a bit of poetry, too, and am experimenting with short stories.

I am part of the founding faculty and teach creative nonfiction in the Bay Path University (Massachusetts) online MFA program. I also teach closer to home at Montclair State University (NJ), with The Writers Circle, and previously taught at Rutgers University. I teach and coach privately online and in person, too.

I also work as a freelance writer, literary journal editor, independent manuscript editor, writing coach, editorial consultant, ghostwriter. In other words -- hire me! In former lives, I was an equestrian journalist, a public relations specialist, an editor for a hyperlocal news site, and a real estate spy (don't ask).

I have a BS in journalism (Syracuse), and an MFA in creative nonfiction (Stonecoast/University of Southern Maine). Like every other writer I know, I am at work on too many projects all at once. That's what I love about the writing and freelance life.

My husband once read this section and remarked that I don't mention anything about my family, so: I am the mother of two sons -- a college student and a high schooler. I have been married for 27 years to the boy I first fell for at age 12. Too bad he didn't fall for me for another 13 years. There honey, happy now?